Home for the Holidays 2019
Prompt: Home
August 2nd, 2020
Gray sat on the couch, watching the news on the TV while Lyon sat at the dining room table, preparing for a case he was presenting in court the following day. Aki sat next to his father, flipping through the pages of a board book, trying to repeat some of the words Gray had read to him earlier.
Gray couldn't help but smile at the way his son's legs didn't even make it to the edge of the sofa.
"Hungwy, dada, pillaw hungwy," Aki pointed at the page on his book, but Gray didn't even have to look.
"That's right, Aki! The caterpillar is hungry. What a smart boy you are!" Aki's face lit up at the compliment, and he quickly turned the page wanting to impress his father some more.
Gray noticed the sad look on Aki's face and quickly intervened, "Would you like me to read it to you again?"
Before he had even finished speaking, Aki had already climbed onto his lap eagerly and handed the book over. Gray could hear a chuckle and looked up to glare at Lyon.
"What? It just amazes me how good you are at this," Lyon teased, getting up from the table and making his way into the kitchen to get a drink, "You never had any patience, but this suits you somehow."
Gray resisted the urge to retort, going back to the book when his phone rang. Looking down at the caller ID, he saw it was his brother.
"Can you look at the pages for a little bit? Daddy needs to take this."
"Kay, dada," Gray kissed the top of Aki's head, overcome by the cuteness of the voice before answering his phone. "Hey, what's up?"
"Hi. Listen, I got a call from Gildarts a little while ago, seems that something's up with Natsu. He wants to get a group together to meet at Fairy Tail."
"That pink-haired guy? He's annoying, pass."
"Come on, Gray, part of being in this club is to help others through tough times."
"He is a tough time," Gray pointed out, his mind immediately going to all the times the two of them had butted heads.
"You know it wouldn't hurt for you to go out more, make some friends."
"I already have as many friends as I need, so if that's all I'm gonna go now," Gray replied, about to hang up when he felt Lyon grab the phone away from him.
"Hey Rogue, what's going on?" Gray could only hear Lyon's side of the conversation, but he knew the polite way he was responding did not bode well for him.
"Alright, tell Sting we'll see him there," Lyon paused for a moment before adding, "Got it, see you soon."
Gray glared at his friend, "I had said no."
"You always say no,"
"I don't even like the guy."
"Not the point. When you came here you said you wanted to start your life over, I don't think you meant sitting in my living room day after day watching television. Live a little."
"I was about to read to Aki," Gray tried to use the Aki card as a last resort, but he should have known better because if there was one thing he hadn't expected when he'd arrived in Magnolia it was that shy Aki would take so well to his Unka Lyon.
Lyon smiled at Aki, who immediately perked up. "Would you like for Uncle Lyon to read you that book while Daddy packs you a bag?"
"Unbelievable, " Gray complained when Aki scrambled out of his lap and ran to Lyon. He knew when he was beaten, so after handing the book over, Gray headed to his room, figuring he might as well take a quick shower and change his clothes.
"Rogue and your mom are gonna watch the kids so we can meet up with Sting," Lyon called out.
"Then why are you coming?"
"Insurance."
Gray rolled his eyes, hating being treated like a child but also acknowledging he wouldn't be going otherwise. Lyon was annoying, but he wasn't wrong. It had been a long time since he went anywhere without Aki, especially anywhere meant for adults.
He looked through his closet, trying to think of what to wear. Most of his clothes were things he would have worn in Crocus, where he'd had an image to maintain. They seemed out of place for Magnolia, but he managed to find a pair of ripped jeans and a button-down shirt that looked more blue-collar than fashion staple. He grabbed the rest of the items he'd need and entered the bathroom.
Twenty minutes later, he was dressed and had added a few items to his usual baby bag. "Alright, let's go."
Aki had fallen asleep cuddled into Lyon, and Gray was surprised by how relaxed his friend looked. He'd probably make a great dad someday, Aki didn't seem to like too many people, but he'd warmed up to Lyon very quickly.
They headed out of the house as quietly as they could, buckling Aki into the car seat and driving the short distance to his old home, where Sting and Rogue now lived.
0-0
"Hey, Erza, how're you doing?" Sting asked awkwardly, never really knowing how to behave in front of Natsu's rather stern-looking older sister.
"Sting," Erza greeted, moving out of the way and gesturing him inside.
"Sting?" Natsu came out of the kitchen with Atlas, his two-year-old son, toddling behind him. "What are you doing here?"
"Oh, you know, Rogue wanted to spend some time catching up with his mom, so I, uhm, came over to see if you wanted to have dinner with me." Sting tried to make his smile seem sincere, but even he knew he was acting strangely. He was a terrible liar, always had been.
Natsu immediately turned his attention towards his sister, searching her face before looking back at Sting.
"I see, well tonight's actually not a good night for me, maybe another time?"
"Nonsense," Erza chirped, grabbing Natsu's scarf from where it was hanging on a peg by the door and handing it to him. "It's a lovely night, and the kids will be going to bed soon. I can handle things here. Go eat, have some cake, you deserve it!"
Sting had a feeling he knew what this might be about, and he wondered if it was a good idea to force Natsu to come out when he clearly didn't want to. But he'd promised Rogue he'd try and the truth was Natsu was one of the few people he counted as a friend. If he could do something to
ease his burden a little, he would try his best.
"Yeah, the truth is you'd be doing me a favor," Sting flashed a smile at Natsu, "I hate eating alone."
Natsu looked decidedly unhappy about the situation, but he wrapped the scarf around his neck without putting up any fuss, clearly knowing when he was beaten. Atlas, who had been holding on to his father's leg during the whole exchange, peeked out and recognizing Sting transferred his leg grip to him, chubby cheeks stretched into an infectious grin much like his father's on a good day.
Sting found himself looking down and grinning in return. He offered his arms, and Atlas quickly let go of his leg and grabbed on so he could be picked up.
"Cookie Monster! How's your head doing, still closed?" He pretended to check Atlas' head wound as he always did. "Yep, it looks like I get to keep my job for another day."
Atlas giggled, and Sting ruffled his hair gently, giving him a quick hug before setting him down. He could see Natsu relaxing a little at the exchange and waited patiently as his friend said goodbye to Atlas and yelled out a goodbye to Hana.
Minutes later, they were on their way, Sting driving them to Fairy Tail, where they were supposed to meet the others later.
"You didn't have to do this, I really am fine."
Sting tried to seem like he had no idea what Natsu meant but decided against it. "Don't worry so much, this is great! I rarely get to go out with friends. My life is pretty much hospital, and Rogue and kids, which you know is great but," Sting realized what he'd said and felt like an asshole.
"You don't have to watch what you say around me." Natsu sighed, " This is why I don't like telling people about… about what happened," Natsu managed to get out, "Let's just eat."
"Is there something about today, or are you just having a bad day?"
Natsu remained silent until they arrived at the bar, waiting until Sting had parked the car to respond, "It's her birthday."
He opened the door of the car and got out, while Sting stayed a moment longer, having no idea what to do or say to make his friend feel better.
0-0
Gray and Lyon arrived at Fairy Tail around eight o'clock. The bar was relatively empty, which was not entirely surprising, considering it was a Sunday night. They looked around, not sure who was coming until they heard Gildarts' distinctive laugh originating from a table in the back. They made their way over to him, finding him surrounded by a bevy of women who all seemed to be hanging on to his every word.
Gray cringed, the reconciliation talks between Gildarts and his father must not be going well. He honestly wasn't sure who to feel sorry for at this point. He'd have to have a chat with Cana sometime soon. She always seemed to have more info on what was going on between their fathers.
Silver had been incredibly tight-lipped on the matter, outside of finally admitting what Gray had suspected for years. His father and Gildarts had been in a serious relationship a long time ago. One which Silver had dissolved because he'd wanted a family, which even Gray had to acknowledge was a shitty thing to do.
Gildarts greeted them warmly, dismissing his ladies with an apologetic smile.
"Care to tell me what I'm doing here?" Gray grumbled into the drink that had miraculously appeared in front of him.
"What do you mean? I asked all of Natsu's friends to be here."
"I am not Natsu's friend, Gildarts, in case you haven't noticed I barely tolerate the guy."
Gildarts gave Gray a look he didn't quite understand but immediately irritated him, causing Lyon to snort beside him. "Well, let's just say he makes you come alive, so maybe you can return the favor."
"And what exactly is wrong?"
Gildarts blinked at him, "It's not my place to say, but his sister was very worried about him, so here we are. It's what we do in this club, Sport, we support each other. Today it's for him, tomorrow it might be for you."
"And when are we having one for you?" Gray challenged, and although he knew he was kind of being an asshole, he was honestly concerned.
"That's different, that topic is off the table, especially with you and the Half-Pint." Gildarts took a drink from his beer, ordering another round before any of them had a chance to finish the one in front of them.
"Who else is coming?" Lyon asked, wanting to steer the conversation towards safer topics.
"Macao, Loke, and Sting and Natsu, I think."
"Loke?" Lyon groaned, which cheered Gray up considerably.
"What's wrong with Loke?" Gildarts raised an eyebrow.
"Nevermind, you would like him, he's like a junior version of you." Lyon frowned as he took a swig of his beer, "So what are we supposed to do exactly?"
"This friendship thing is a new concept for you two, huh? Just talk to the kid, get his mind off whatever's bothering him and listen to him if he feels like talking. It's not rocket science, you know."
Gray could only think that in his experience, rocket science was much more straightforward.
0-0
Natsu and Sting were led to a table where they proceeded to hide behind two large menus.
"So, what's good here?" Sting asked, mostly to make some sort of conversation but also because the last time he'd eaten at Fairy Tail had been some time in medical school.
"I don't know, just about everything, I guess, Mira's a pretty good cook," Natsu shrugged disinterestedly.
Sting bit his lip, trying to figure out how to bring up the topic, "Uhm, Mira is Lisanna's older sister, isn't she?"
Natsu fixed him with a glare, one that was most decidedly screaming back off. Still, he answered, "Yeah."
Every question Sting asked from that point forward was deflected, and he didn't know how to handle it. He wished Rogue were there since he was much better at getting to the heart of things than he was.
He texted Gildarts that they were upstairs, and it wasn't going well. Gildarts advised him not to push more than Natsu was ready for, so they spent the rest of the meal talking about some of Sting's more interesting cases at the hospital, which seemed to at least relax Natsu somewhat.
When dinner was over, Natsu insisted on paying since it was his fault that Sting had been forced to take him out, and after some initial resistance, Sting allowed it. He was desperate to get Natsu
downstairs, hoping the others would succeed where he had failed.
Natsu peered at Sting with a pleading expression, "Can we go now?"
Sting's fingers danced underneath the table as he texted an SOS to Gildarts, glancing down quickly when he felt his phone vibrate.
Help is on the way…
Sting stifled the urge to facepalm as he heard the loud ring of Gildarts' laughter coming up the stairs. If there was one thing Gildarts was not, it was subtle. He saw two heads of orange hair coming towards them, Gildarts sporting his usual grin, while Loke seemed to at least look a bit uncomfortable.
"Hey, Loke, are those Natsu and Sting over there?" Gildarts drawled and without even waiting for a response headed over to their table.
"Firefly, I didn't know you ever went out for fun!" Gildarts hugged Natsu briefly, patting his back roughly before letting go.
"This is perfect, Macao just bailed on us," Gildarts ran the fingers of his prosthetic hand through his hair, "Something about Romeo, wasn't really paying attention. But here you are, and you should have a drink with us!"
Natsu's eyes widened the moment he recognized Gildarts, and he examined Sting's guilty expression for a moment before sighing, "Just how many people did my sister call?"
"I'm sorry, she's worried about you. We all are."
"There's nothing to worry about, I'm getting everything done that needs to get done."
"Look, kid, we know you miss her, it would be a miracle if you didn't, but you have to keep going too. Not just for your kids but for you."
"If I have a drink with you guys, will you let it go? Just tell Erza you talked to me, and I was fine." Natsu's eyes implored all of them.
"Sure, let's go downstairs, okay?" Loke grabbed Natsu by the arm and tugged him towards the stairs, and Natsu followed docilely enough.
"Are you sure we're doing the right thing?" Sting prodded Gildarts as they followed, "He seriously doesn't want to talk about this."
"He has to some time. Otherwise, he'll never begin to grieve properly."
"I dunno-"
"You're going to have to trust me on this one."
0-0
Gray watched as Loke brought Natsu downstairs with Sting and Gildarts following closely behind. He studied Natsu's expression for any hint as to why they were here, wanting to get this over with as quickly as possible.
Green eyes that were typically blazing with life now appeared dull, and that stupid grin was nowhere to be seen. Sure, Gray had to admit that Natsu looked heartbroken, but so what? He guessed that they had all been there at least once in their life. Was this seriously the reason for Gildarts to round them all up for a night at the bar?
He didn't like going out anymore, even with people he trusted, it just made him feel too exposed. If the wrong person recognized him, it would be all over social media. Gray knew it was only a matter of time before Siegrain found out where he was, but if he managed to find him before he was ready, things could get complicated. He'd only managed to hide this long by not touching any of his money or credit cards since he'd left, only using the money he'd managed to sneak in Aki's savings account.
He was more concerned about what could happen if Siegrain decided to try to take Aki away from him. Even the idea of joint custody was something Gray couldn't stomach, already knowing that Siegrain had no problem with hitting Aki, especially if he knew it would be the most effective way to hurt Gray.
Gray needed to give Lyon more time to find a way to keep Siegrain away from Aki permanently. These were real problems he needed to be working on rather than wasting his time trying to console some lovesick idiot. One that didn't look like he wanted help at that.
He saw the exact moment Natsu noticed him, the man's green eyes becoming even more guarded than they had been before, and Gray could feel his blood boiling. Why was he even here?
The fact of the matter was he didn't particularly care for Natsu, and it was obvious the feeling was mutual, but he reminded himself he'd promised to behave and so he would try his best regardless.
However, he decided there was no harm in speeding things along, so when a waitress walked by, he ordered a round of shots for the table, and with a vindictive grin made sure to put them on Gildarts' tab.
Lyon raised an eyebrow at his sudden fit of helpfulness but remained silent. It seemed Natsu worked as a bartender at Crime Sorciere, the bar Lyon frequented near his office, and his friend had taken a liking to him.
By the time Natsu reached the table, the shots were already lined up and waiting. He wrinkled his nose at the alcohol, and Gray made sure to down his quickly, staring at Natsu in silent challenge.
Natsu gazed at him for what felt like a long time before grabbing the shot and gulping it down, grimacing at the bitter taste of the alcohol.
The other men at the table tossed their shots back without effort. Gildarts immediately caught one of the waitresses' attention with a small wave and his signature charming smile, ready to order another round. Sting was tapping out already, smiling apologetically at Loke, whose valiant attempts to fix him up with just one more round were in vain.
"I'd love to, but it's not happening," Sting sighed, "I'm choosing my battles very carefully."
"Now that's an interesting way of admitting that you're whipped," Loke quipped back at him with a smirk, using provocation to try and succeed where persuasion had failed.
"I'm not. Rogue is a bomb I've learned to defuse. But I'm driving both Natsu and myself back home later tonight, and I'm guessing you've never met Natsu's sister? I don't know how she'd feel about me potentially drunk driving her brother back home, and I'm not planning to find out either."
Gray quickly drank the next shot, slamming the glass on the table as soon as he was done and waiting to see what Natsu would do. He seemed to vacillate for just a moment before copying him, but before Gray could say or do anything, he turned towards Sting and, for some reason Gray couldn't even begin to understand Natsu's dismissal bothered him.
Gray wanted to get out of this bar and back to Lyon's house, why wasn't Natsu cooperating?
"What's going on over there?" Loke asked curiously, commenting on the tension between Natsu and Gray.
"I think Gray is about to work his magic," Gildarts muttered, "If there is one thing the Fullbuster's are good at, it's their lack of patience, and they are easily irritated. Gray doesn't want to be here any more than Natsu does. Sooner or later, he's gonna say something to set Natsu off, and then… well, then I think we'll finally get somewhere."
"Wait, you're saying you purposefully invited Gray here just to fuck with Natsu?" Lyon protested, "What happened to friendship and all that stuff you were saying earlier?"
"I mean it would be nice if they got along, but you've seen them," Gildarts shrugged as he continued to drink, "Natsu is a powder keg that's ready to explode, and Gray might just be the spark we need to get him to open up."
0-0
Gray watched with dismay as the others tried to reach Natsu, asking him question after question which Natsu managed to deflect with almost admirable skill, but after about thirty minutes of this, Gray had had enough.
"For God's sake Dragneel, why don't you just tell them what they want to know so we can all get the hell out of here and go home?!"
As far as incendiary remarks went, this was pretty tame, he had much better ones stored in his arsenal, but to Gray's surprise, he watched Natsu's whole body recoil as if he'd wounded him deeply. Even worse, his eyes were welling up.
"You want to go home?" Natsu's voice was so quiet that Gray had to strain to hear him, "That must be nice. I'd like to go home too, but I can't do that. Not now, not ever again."
"What are you talking about, didn't Sting bring you from home?"
"That's not my home. That's just the house I live in with my sister," the tears had begun to flow, and although Gray didn't understand how his innocent statement had led to this, he felt the beginnings of guilt, and he didn't like it. What did he have to feel guilty about? Natsu was the one who was overreacting.
"What the hell could you possibly have to be so upset about, huh? Did your wife kick you out or something? Is that what this is all about?"
Natsu's hands were clenching into fists, and Sting was moving towards the two of them only to be stopped by Gildarts grabbing on to his arm. Sting tried to shake him off, but Gildarts only shook his head and continued to watch. Lyon looked decidedly uncomfortable with the situation, but for the moment, he chose not to interfere.
"Gray, maybe you should back off," Loke urged, eyes darting nervously between the two men.
"Don't you talk about her," instead of the yell everyone was expecting Natsu's voice came out in a hoarse whisper. "You don't know anything."
"Of course I don't, how can I, when you refuse to tell us anything?" Gray was being loud enough for both of them, and other bar patrons were beginning to take notice, "Fine, so if she didn't leave you, then what the hell is the problem?"
"She was killed in an accident. Is that what you wanted to hear?" Natsu cried out, his voice gaining volume as he spoke, "She went out to the store to buy something like she'd done a thousand times before, and she never came back. She was my home,¨ Natsu managed before bursting into loud sobs, ¨She was sweet and beautiful and kind, and I loved her more than
someone like you could ever understand."
"No matter how bad of a day I had, just coming home to her could make it all better. And even though we never had any money, we were happy. We had each other, we didn't need anything more."
"She would have turned twenty-five today," Natsu's sobs had subsided, replaced by a voice that was too calm, "We should be dancing around the kitchen with Hana and Atlas. We should be laughing about the crappy cake I tried to make her, and singing along to the ridiculous pop songs she used to like. That was my home, Gray, and I can never go back."
Gray could only stare in shock as words that he had never expected to come out of Natsu's mouth filled his ears. He could almost feel the displeasure rolling off Lyon, and he knew he had no defense. He'd pushed too hard, as he always did when he lost his patience.
Natsu began to move along to the music that had started to play from the bar speakers at some point, and he mumbled, "I'm gonna go dance," before walking off onto the dance floor and swaying unsteadily to the music, the shots he'd drunk earlier hampering his movements.
"I — I didn't mean for that to happen, " Gray glanced at Gildarts, expecting to see disappointment or anger, but the older man was only watching Natsu thoughtfully.
Lyon, however, was staring daggers at him. While Loke, who only a moment earlier had attempted to defuse the situation, stared into his drink, a faraway look plastered on his face.
"Are you satisfied?" Lyon growled and Gray wasn't entirely sure whether it had been directed at him or at Gildarts but he responded regardless.
"I didn't know," Gray tried to explain, stopping as a thought crossed his mind.
"You knew his wife had died, didn't you?" Gray glared at Sting, accusingly, "Why the hell didn't you tell us?"
"Don't blame him for this, " Loke looked up from his glass, "He didn't force you to go at him so hard."
"He didn't want anyone to know," Sting revealed, wiping away the tears that were rolling down his cheeks, "He doesn't want pity, and he doesn't like to talk about it. He made me promise."
"I met her a few times, she was lovely," Sting added, watching as his friend continued to dance by himself, drawing more and more looks from others.
"Maybe I should take him ho-, uhm back to his house," Sting corrected himself quickly before biting his bottom lip worriedly.
"No, first, Gray needs to fix the mess he made," Lyon pointed out.
"What?! No way, it wasn't even my idea to come here."
"Gray look at him, is he really all that different from you?" Lyon insisted, "His pain might be different from yours, but it's still pain."
"Who's brilliant idea was it to bring Natsu here today after I specifically gave him the day off?" A petite woman stormed towards their table. She was wearing a maroon dress with the bar's logo etched on the half apron that was tied around her waist. Her contrasting white hair was put up in a ponytail.
"Oh shit, that's Mirajane," Sting turned around, trying to hide behind Loke, "What the hell is it with Natsu and terrifying women?"
"Gildarts?! I should have known," she fumed, "How many times do I have to tell you, getting him drunk isn't going to help. He just needs time," Mirajane sighed as she looked out at the dance floor, "What happened? Someone said they heard Natsu yelling."
All heads turned towards Gray, who could only protest once again, "I didn't know."
Mirajane squared her shoulders and walked her diminutive frame over to Gray, her eyes blazing with a fire that put the fear of God into him. She poked his chest with her index finger, eyes never leaving his face even though she had to strain her neck to do so, "I don't know who you are, but if you don't fix this I will make sure you never forget who I am," she roared.
As he stepped onto the dance floor, Gray told himself he hadn't allowed himself to be intimidated by a pint-sized woman, he was just taking responsibility for his actions. He did feel bad, he hadn't actually meant to upset Natsu like that, and he certainly understood where the guy was coming from.
Gray was sort of homeless too. He'd been living with Lyon for months, it was the safest place for him and Aki. Lyon's apartment was spacious, and it had excellent security, which given Lyon's line of work was to be expected, but it wasn't home. The house he had shared with Siegrain hadn't been much of a home either. Not in the way Natsu described.
While he liked to think that he and Siegrain had been in love once, he didn't really know if it was true. Gray had loved him, but now that it was all but over, he'd come to realize that Siegrain had never seen him as anything more than a meal ticket. He was in love with the money Gray made them, not with Gray.
Now that he was out from under Siegrain's influence, Gray could see things clearly, could pinpoint moments in his career that had led to their relationship deepening. But he hadn't been able to see it then. He'd allowed himself to be manipulated time and time again because he thought Siergrain was showing him love, when in fact, all he'd been doing was caging him.
There was only one thing to come out of their marriage that Gray didn't regret and that was Aki, and he would do anything within his power to keep his son away from his husband.
He remembered Natsu's words as he talked about his wife and felt resentful. He'd never experienced a relationship that deep, and given how closed off he'd become, he doubted he ever would. His life centered around Aki, and that's the way it would have to be.
Gray finally got close enough to Natsu to tap him on the shoulder. Natsu turned his head, and although Gray had expected animosity, the eyes that looked back at him were remarkably passive.
"Look, I'm sorry if I—"
"Dance with me," Natsu's voice was soft and pleading, but Gray was caught off guard.
Dance with him? Gray had found Natsu so annoying from their first meeting that outside of noting the distinct features, pink hair, green eyes, tanned skin, and average height, he'd never really paid attention to what he looked like. He had to grudgingly admit that had Natsu been able to keep his mouth shut, Gray might have found him attractive once upon a time.
"Dance?"
Natsu nodded, offering his hand out for Gray to take.
"I don't know, I just wanted to apologize…"
"I know what you wanted, and I really don't want to talk about it, can you just dance with me? I just want to pretend for a few minutes, please?"
"But I'm a guy."
"I know," Natsu almost managed a smile, "this way, I won't feel like it's cheating."
"Natsu, she's gone," Gray wasn't even sure what to say, the whole request perplexed him, "You can't cheat."
"I said I don't want to talk about it, remember? Are you going to dance with me or not?"
Gray figured he owed the guy that much for making him cry, besides it was just one dance. What could it really hurt? It's not like he hadn't danced with plenty of guys in his clubbing days.
"Fine."
He hadn't been expecting Natsu's smile to be so disarming or his eyes to be so bright, causing slight flutters to his stomach. Still, Gray stubbornly ignored all the telltale signs of beginning infatuation, allowing himself to be led across the room and almost rolling his eyes as a slow song began to play with nearly cliched precision.
He thought about protesting. It was bad enough to know that Natsu was pretending he was a woman, but then he thought once again. What could it really hurt?
So they danced, and it turned out Natsu wasn't so bad, his movements were fluid and graceful as he put his arms around Gray and moved them to the beat of the music, a stark contrast to his earlier movements.
Gray remained silent, not wanting to break the spell of whatever it was Natsu was trying to accomplish. Dancing with Natsu was different than with Siegrain, even though he knew the man was pretending his eyes never left Gray's face. His features softening into a smile that was both sad and endearing.
Siegrain's eyes had always darted around whenever they had danced in public, as if he were on the lookout for someone better, which given the things Gray had found out about was probably exactly what he'd been doing. They would never have danced in their kitchen for fun, he couldn't even remember the last time they had genuinely laughed together.
And suddenly, Gray found he was the one pretending. He pretended that Natsu was looking at him that way because he liked him. That he was actually loved deeply by someone rather than kept as a trophy. But instead of giving him any solace, it made Gray feel that much worse because try as he might, he knew it wasn't real. But he wished it was.
He could lie to others, but he couldn't lie to himself. He did want this with somebody. More than anything, Gray wanted to be loved for who he was, but he'd begun to believe that he was no longer worthy of it. That he would forever be tainted by all the bad decisions he'd made.
The song ended before he was ready, and he almost protested when Natsu let go, still offering that same smile.
"Thank y—"
Gray noticed Natsu's eyes widen, and he turned to see what had gotten his attention. It was the scary woman from earlier, but Gray could see the change in Natsu, the tentative hope at seeing her, and though he had no idea what was happening, he felt a strange wave of disappointment come over him.
"Lis, is that you?"
Gray saw the raw pain on the woman's face, which was swiftly replaced by pity, "No, Natsu honey, it's me, Mira."
But the pain Gray had seen on Mira's face was nothing compared to what was revealed on Natsu's upon realizing his illusion had shattered, "Oh, for a moment there I... I miss her, Mira."
"I know, sweetheart," Mira replied with a sad smile, "I do too. Come on, Sting is going to take you back to Erza's, okay?"
Natsu nodded listlessly and made to follow her, stopping briefly to acknowledge Gray, who was still standing on the dance floor, awkwardly, "Thank you for the dance."
"No problem."
"Friends?" Natsu asked, holding out his hand for Gray to shake.
"Sure," Gray replied, shaking his hand and acting like the last five minutes hadn't meant anything to him. He had always been good at lying to others like that.
But as he watched Natsu walk back to their friends, he knew he was in trouble. For the briefest of instants, when Natsu had confused Mira for his wife, he had felt jealous of her. And he had no clue why.